Synthesis of ferrocenyl carbodiimide as a novel ferrocenyl reagent of single stranded DNA.

Abstract

Ferrocenyl carbodiimide (FcCDI) was newly synthesized as a ferrocenylation reagent for single stranded DNA. FcCDI could attach to oligodeoxyribonucleotides (ODN) through a covalent bond with thymine and guanine bases. The reactivity of thymine with FcCDI was higher than that of guanine, but independent of their location on the DNA sequence. After a single stranded DNA was treated with FcCDI, resulting ODN could be detected electrochemically by a redox signal deriving from the ferrocenyl moiety with a DNA probe-immobilized electrode. These results suggest that the labeling of DNA with FcCDI can be applied to rapid analysis of electrochemical genosensors.